To mark this year’s International Women’s Day users in the Middle East and North Africa will find Google’s homepage logo replaced on Tuesday March 8 with a doodled video shot in Cairo and 12 other iconic cities around the world.
From Egypt, actress Donia Samir Ghanem and university student Merna El Bari are among women from all over the world who share their hopes in the global video by completing the following sentence: “One day I will…”
The two appear in the video alongside other international symbols of successful women such as Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and celebrated scientist Jane Goodall.
Donia, whose dream was to see every woman and girl a “star in her field,” is the only Middle Eastern celebrity featured in the video.
“I am happy to take part in such an important initiative such as Google’s campaign for International Women’s Day as it is an expression of the hopes and dreams of women everywhere,” Donia said.
“One day I will be the first female president of Egypt,” declares 23-year-old Merna in the global video. “The doodle idea in itself is superbly creative and shares an optimistic outlook from the heart of the Middle East with the world. I was genuinely happy to be there,” Merna later said.
Google also produced an extension of the global doodle video shot entirely in Cairo that has a more in depth look at the women featured in the video.
Features 26 Egyptian women who stand before the camera with the Pyramids of Giza behind them as they declare what they want to be one day. Users will be able to see this video once they land on a landing page developed for International Women’s Day.
“Cairo, along with several other cities around the world, were selected to represent a diverse set of women from different countries, all with different dreams, ethnicities, ages, languages, walks of life. We wanted to feature as many women as possible, so we created special city edits to share the dreams of as many women as possible!” Zain Masri, Product Marketing Manager for the Middle East and North Africa, said.
“Through our doodles we try to get closer to our users by highlighting key events close to their hearts. Over the past few years, we celebrated the achievements of more and more women in Doodles — across, science, activism, journalism, sports, arts, technology and many other fields,” Zain added.
Google has celebrated the lasting impact of key Egyptian female figures through special doodles throughout the years such as the ones developed for Umm Kulthum, Sohair El-Qalamawy, and Tahia Halim. [More examples can be provided upon request.]
About Google
Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google’s innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top Internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world. Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
